Chương 610: Chapter 609: Mirador Hold

Lt. General Lawson, Mirador Hold.

"Of course, I didn't forget Lt. General," replied the whore and put a box in front of me. I took it in my hand and opened it.

'Bastard!' I cursed. Seeing only twelve bottles of emotion essence potions in it. We wanted at least two dozen; we deserved it, but the bastard only provided us a half dozen. I wanted to fling it back at the whore. We have provided Silver with many concessions but are not receiving the same courtesy in return.

"The numbers are not even half, Miss Hillcrest. We have been expecting more." I said with a smile. I wanted to use my skill, but it was useless against this bitch. She is Jenna Hillcrest, and beside her is Rutto, a courtier living off his family's name. Two years ago, I used to suppress her as such that she used to shake in front of me, but now she has become powerful enough to repel my skills. I am Lv. 34 Administrative General. A powerful class, but that was not enough to suppress her.

"We want to give you more, Lt. General, but Velvet Garden's essence expenditure has increased tremendously in the past month."

"The stores and the new garden consume vast amounts of essence."

"We also have obligations to the empire and need to tithe them considerable emotion essence," she replied, her face full of regret.

'This fucking whore!' I cursed once more. Yes, those things take essence, but Velvet Garden has more. It wouldn't hurt them much if they gave us a little more. They are doing it intentionally, and seeing that, my hate for that bastard Silver increases further. I hate the bastard with the burning passion. I still remember the words he had spoken to me in Lauryl over two years ago. It was because of it that the commander had demoted me. I had lost respect and had become a laughingstock, but I took it as a lesson.

Now, I hold a much more significant position.

"It's just we have provided you with so many concessions and hoped you reciprocate it," I said, and the whore smiled.

"We do appreciate, Mirador Hold. It is why we provide you with emotion essence potions every month," replied Rutto with a smile. I want to threaten them with cutting their concessions, but that wouldn't be wise. Yes, it would hurt Silver, but it would also hurt us, as trade is our only source of revenue. Silver increases trade every month, helping us reap massive amounts in tax revenue. If we did something, he might try to lessen the dependence on this route, and he could.

It will be painful for him, but not as painful as it will be for us. He can bear that pain, but we can not.

"If you don't mind me asking. How long will you be in Navr?" I asked. I changed the subject; I had already expressed my displeasure. Pressing them further would not help Mirador Hold in any way.

"This time, it is a little longer. It might take a little more than a week," Jenna replied.

"Is this about the Maw Grill?" I asked. People from that legacy went to Greltheaven to negotiate for a few weeks.

"Yes, and more," she replied. A few minutes later, they left the office, and the door closed.

"Bitch!" I cursed loudly before getting up and walking out of my office. I could see the whole fortress, especially the entrance and exit. Over a thousand carriages passed through Navr every day. The fort became an important trade route. Making the fort a vast amount of money helped us solve many of our problems, but there are still more. Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings. Soon, I reached the office of Commander Dane.

"He is waiting for you," said Thales, his secretary. I nodded and went through the door.

"Lord Commander," I greeted.

"How much?" he asked.

"Just twelve," I replied, placing the box before him. His expression remained unchanged, but I could tell he was angry.

"You must have told them it is only half of what we had asked for?" he asked. I nodded.

"They made excuses about that," I replied. Thud! The next moment, the whole table shook as he hit his first across it. I could understand how he was feeling. I feel the same way, but as I said, we are powerless to do anything unless we are willing to bear the pain.

"We have given him so much, but he is supplying those bastards more than us and even sent a brigade to reinforce them with the monsters," I said. I am talking about those nobles in Nakar Forest. Our spies are providing us with a lot of information, which is worrying us. The emotion essence is a small part of the problem; the biggest worry is their growing army. Silver isn't the only one who is growing their army fast. The bastards of Nakar are doing it as well.

Their army isn't growing as fast as that of the Silver, but faster than ours. They had even started admitting the wild orcs. Silver and those bastards should be ashamed of admitting the empire's enemies into their armies.

"I will talk to Silver about it, but in the meantime, keep an eye on the whore," he ordered.

"As you command, Lord Commander," I replied and left his office.

'Carson,' I said, activating General's Telepathy.

'All eyes on the target, general,' he replied.

'Good, don't let them out of your eyes even for a second. I want a complete report of what they do and whom they talked to,' I ordered.

'Yes, Lt. General,' I cut the call and walked toward my office. Every time the whores come, we keep a tight eye on them. They are dangerous and have quite a lot of people infatuated with them. Silver has people in the hold. The bastard seemed to know about almost everything we do here. We also have people in Greltheaven, but ours couldn't reach as deep as he has here. We had offered so much to that bastard Cardin, but he is unwilling to turn. We've found some spies, but there are still many more we haven't.

His whores played a significant role in that, and we would have banned them, but we don't have any solid proof. What little we have isn't enough to implicate them. Silver could easily dismiss it if we showed it to him. We have restricted many areas of the fort for his whores, and they always have escorts. However, we still can't prevent them from meeting people. The high-level officers, those of my level and below them. These whores always spent a night whenever they came.

Plan a soiree and invite important people and high-ranking officials, including me. It is hard to resist the invitation when they bring the most wine and food from the legacy. We attempted to limit the giving of emotion essence potions, spa packages, and other gifts to the officers on their birthdays, but it only worsened the situation. We received numerous complaints. Even two lieutenant generals opposed it, and they had to roll back those restrictions within a week.

It was when we became aware of the significant influence the bastard wields here. To manage this, we established strict gift policies. We didn't prohibit them from accepting gifts, especially the life-saving emotion potions, but we required them to inform us. We also heavily control their visits to Greltheaven and send only trusted ones for the official visit there. Whenever a high-ranking officer visits Greltheaven, Silver opens the doors of the legacy for them. They could visit the spa.

Fuck whores and even buy stuff with a heavy discount that is almost free. Forget others; even I couldn't resist the charm of the legacy, despite all my hate for Silver. Whenever I go to Greltheaven, I visit the legacy. I am a man, after all, unlike that bastard Maras. Nothing seemed to tempt him; he didn't even visit the legacy when he went to Greltheaven for business. When he does, he stays for a few minutes with the officers and returns to his hotel.

I was thinking about him when a tall man in his mid-forties approached me.

"Lt. General Lawson," he greeted coolly, as always. I nodded. Lt. General Maras, everything is good with the undead?" I asked. He is responsible for the undead and usually stays at the border.

"Yes. It is calm as always," he replied and walked away. He always acts cool. Nothing seems to unfazed him until the name Jarvis' is mentioned. That bastard under him suggested that we send him to the Baronies. He betrayed us and became their general. Soon, I reached my office and began to respond to messages. I had. Many are coming from the empire. With the answer, that is making me mad. Similar to what they're doing in Greltheaven, we're also trying to recruit people from the empire.

Every officer was tasked with doing that, and I was responsible for it. I have contacted everyone I know, those I served with, my juniors, and even seniors, but all I have received is a no. Some of the bastards who turned me down had joined Greltheaven and Owlspring. We need the city; it would be fine if it were smaller. We would have grown it like Silver had, but we didn't have it. We tried to build the town, hoping to turn it into a city like Laurel did, but it's not working. We need the city that already exists.

We attempted to acquire it in Nakar, but we failed spectacularly. We aren't powerful enough to pursue Grelthheaven and Owlspring. As for the Brimbale, we didn't even think about it. That bastard in Dustorn Fortress controls it and other cities. He would destroy us if we looked at it so much. We do not want to antagonize him. It is good that he remained in his fortress. Although he might not be around for long, the Lord Commander had discovered some shocking information.

If it were to happen, it would change the region. I hope he does not. He is the reason the undead are only focusing on river cities. They did not dare to go beyond it or attack our side. Not to mention Tabes. While the kingdom concentrated on the empire, it maintained a presence at the border. Skirmishes occurred monthly, but nothing significant happened. However, once they finish their campaign on the mainland, I have no doubt they will shift their focus here.

The man in the Dustorn fortress also seemed to understand that. That's why he has started listening to offers from the empire. Those offers are really good. They had made the Lord Commander red with envy.